green34

Jumping the gun here, but I have pain in my shoulder and a massage therapist/ultrasound tech informed me that it may be a lipoma or an abscess. She said to make an appointment ASAP due to the size. It is about the size of my palm and noticeable when I look in the mirror. It has smooth borders too. Apparently I've had it over a year according to my boyfriend (he thought it was a muscle knot). Basically, I am debating about whether I'd even want to get it removed so close to graduation. I don't want it to mess up me being able to lift anything, but then I get bad shoulder pain after 12 hours. Have you ever delayed any procedure? Most people who do delay things seem to regret it like amputating a foot, carpal tunnel surgery, and so on. I think whatever it is would be a good thing to go whether it's popping an abscess or cutting out fat tissue. But I just don't know if it is worth doing any time soon with school. Not asking about medical advice. Just if you've delayed a procedure and any regrets in doing so. This was typed on my phone. Sorry if I missed any weird auto corrects.

I applied for a residency now and will apply for jobs around November. I graduate in December. The worst thing is if a job filters you out due to no license number but hue. You become licensed, you're in the filtered pile unable to reapply for that particular job. I'd lean more towards taking NCLEX in feb than jan. Figure your school will be lazy and not submit results till jan meaning a test date in feb.

Also, not all paperwork is equal. Some schools require significantly less paperwork than what my school requires.

Sometimes up front. Sometimes in the back. I don't adhere to a ritual of "that's MY seat." Change is good.

Plus maybe the suit will make me look older. I know when I go to take drug tests, people comment on how young I look.

So the way the system is, you can't make major changes when certain people are in the charts. The doctor needed to put orders in and a nurse up on the floor who was not going to receive the patient was in the chart. Meaning, I had to call up the nursing supervisor and ask them to find the nurse and tell her to get out of the chart. Of course the nurse swears she wasn't in the chart (I read her name and title right off the doctor's screen). We didn't really care. We assumed she would get the patient and that's why she was in the chart. Nope, the patient went to a step down and not a med-surg. We even had her user ID. In the future, don't look in people's charts in the ER no matter how curious you are. You never know when you'll get caught.

Depends on the instructor. Now I skim chapters but focus on power points. Other instructors test on material they do not cover so I read those chapters multiple times.

I'd say that I would be working on my MSN so I can start working additionally as a clinical instructor and preceptor while continuing to work with X department. Preferably on nights and full-time at that point.

We are supposed to research the day before but most research before we go in since we're afternoon. What it usually is you research basic information then do the careplan after clinical. Like our paperwork is due that Sunday.

Well, I am not really fashion inclined. I am more of a t-shirt and jeans type of person. When I did my interview, I wore khakis and a blue shirt. It would be an entry-level nursing position. Around here, job applications are submitted online and they call you. There are not usually any job fairs. Around here, it is standard to do a 1 on 1 and then a peer interview.

Well, I don't have a written policy but I can probably find one for you when I go back to work. The ER has stricter rules due to high number of contaminated cultures we've had recently. Basically, we prep the bottles with alcohol preps for 30 seconds. Then we find a site and prep it for 1 full minute with chloraprep sponges and not the little chloraprep things that come in the IV prep kits. It has to be the big sponges. Then we have to get 10 cc per bottle. Meaning we have to either track down a 20 cc syringe or use a butterfly needle to swap out the 10 cc syringes. I personally swap out the syringes as it is easier for me to draw back on a 10 cc than a 20 cc. Plus I can tape down the butterfly as to not shake or drop it as my hands can become stiff sometimes. If we get less than 10 cc per bottle, we have to put 8 in the anaerobic bottle and the rest in the aerobic bottle. We have to do it from 2 different sites. Babies only get 1 bottle and that is the anaerobic bottle. We can draw from IV sites that have been prepped with big chlora preps. All blood cultures need to be drawn before antibiotics. We used to just do half of a 10cc syringe per bottle, but supposedly JCAHO wants 10 ml per bottle. That's what the rumor is anyway. Back when we could split it to smaller numbers (our blood culture bottles say 0.5 ml - 10 ml for the amount to put in), we used to have to do blood cultures first, blue, green, and purple but green always hemolyzed. Now with 10 ml per bottle, we don't have that issue since we'd have to draw 30 ml - 35 ml for all of the blood work (depending on the rare yellow tube)

Are you on the floor or in the ER? Also, with my hospital there is no mention of rotating it between RNs and ancillary staff, just "one person will do it each hour." Most of the other hospitals do rotate it between RNs and PCTs and that works well. However, knowing my department at the moment, they will not rotate it between RNs and ancillary staff/PCTs, at least at first. Not to mention they are implementing it when we are lacking quite a bit of staff on both RNs and ancillary staff. To be honest, the RNs are kind of spoiled in my hospital. I can tell the ones that have worked elsewhere because they will make sure that their patients go up even if they take them up or will clean their rooms instead of waiting for the pcts to get back from doing the run. They will go do their IVs instead of waiting for the phleb to go do it. They don't just wait for the pct. I would feel a lot better if they did rotate it between ancillary and RNs. I really would. That's the way all the other hospitals do it. Plus they require charting too. On my peds rotation, we had to chart something every hour and I did. However, they aren't requiring the mandatory charting at the moment and instead doing a clipboard method. Honestly, I would feel a lot better if we weren't cutting/not replacing/losing staff. I know they want to improve scores, but scheduling more people would help a lot! Having 2 experienced nurses for quickcare would make quickcare fly by. Having 2 nurses and a HUC is even better! That way charts aren't run to the other station to try and find the HUC who is probably going to be rounding. Also, switching it up with the RNs and PCTs would help a lot and that seems to be standard, but there is zero mention of that in our proposed plan.

Do people still wear suites for interviews? I'm looking at: http://www.kohls.com/product/prd-c36333/212-collection-pin-striped-suit-separates.jsp http://www.kohls.com/product/prd-c29490/212-collection-solid-suit-separates.jsp Along with a white button down shirt and black flats. I am thinking about getting both of them for when I do interviews down the line. Any thoughts? All of my other jobs I wore khakis and a button down shirt.

Yes, but you are considering going to the other school and then doing an accelerated BSN. You may not get financial aid for the accelerated BSN.

Not sure the exact number. Around 80 days.

Ours varies from one to four to one to six. Usually quickcare and night time it's one to six. The charge nurse in theory does not take patients but they do to help with ratios or move patients along. Also, about a fourth of our ancillary staff is injured or they've quit. Same thing with nurses. Oh and another two or three are retiring before the end of the year on top of the ones leaving. I do not know why they are not hiring people now before they have a skeleton crew. They will be bumping people off orientation early it seems. I don't know if it is because the manager is out on sick leave and the acting manager is more concerned about her facility (she's the one who will take over the new facility). The nurses that are leaving for the facility, their last day is in October. Orientation is twice a month. So pretty much we will have no nurses for nights or thirds and very few ancillary staff.

I disagree and I think it adds a bit too much words into it. I think that most managers would know that AHA stands for American Heart Association. As for suggesting that I should put in the Ohio Department of Public Safety in, that seems kind of silly. They want the certification number, not some fluff. Not to mention that it is a electronic application and the license numbers are included in the electronic resume portion.

Well, it's basically a residency program where you will be placed into whatever dept has openings. So I can't tailor it into a specific location like an ER or OB. The job description is very vague in general. The format of the resume is also slightly different. too. It looks less like a list. The copying and pasting cause it to become more like a list. I am hesitant to remove my certs from the top half because that's what managed to get me hired in the first place in an ER back when I was a pct.

When I talk louder, I drop my tone becuse that's easier for them to hear. If I spoke high pitch, they still would t hear me.

Revised objective: [TABLE=width: 550] [TR] [TD]Seeking a position in X’s Nurse Residency Program where I will be able to use past experiences, education and skills in order to provide excellent care and satisfaction to the patient during some of the most stressful times in their life. I also added Assistant BLS Instructor to my paramedic job as I assisted in several check offs for BLS classes and just the BLS portion of the ACLS class. I did take out the clinical locations as I felt that it is redundant as other people have said. We all have clinicals with the program. I will include my preceptorship though as it is in the ICU. Under certs, I did put down a critical care elective at my nursing school. It is an optional program. [/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE]

What other options do you have? I would avoid private school loans in my opinion, it can be too much. Having seen my sister bury herself up with debt, I suggest people avoid it. One thing that I am planning on doing is joining the reserves in one of the branches after I graduate to help with the burden. I may either do enlisted or officer depending on the student loan repayment options. My friend was offered 50,000 bonus to repay his loans to join to enlist but he instead decided to become an officer without that bonus. His major was accounting though. If you have a degree, will you be able to use your financial aid to get a similar degree? I'd look into it because I know one of the guys who had a degree was unable to get any financial aid for his fire degree because he graduated with another degree a few years earlier. Don't count on theoretical money. Count on the money you are receiving now.

There are a lot of people addicted to their phones or shopping in my unit. More so on days than nights. I think the biggest issue is cutting the staff down to a bare minimum and then throwing something like this on top of them. They've eliminated the 2nd shift unit clerk, 2 nights out of the week we do not have a patient care tech on nights, sometimes we do not have a paramedic or a person who can actually function as a paramedic, Saturday and Sunday we used to have a nurse extern and supposedly they are hiring more of them (one graduated last December, one finished in June, and one in December), and we have a full time phleb that is off due to injuries. This may change when we get our actual manager back and it may be why no one has been hired in the last six months to a year (they had an ANE position posted, but he ended up on medical leave before then). Oh, we've lost at least four nurses due to health issues or quitting to go somewhere else they have not replaced. They are 2nd or 3rd shifts. Not to mention we have at least four leaving in October to go to a different new facility. Is it a department on the floor or in the ER? At the moment, I can almost guarantee they will not want to do the "even hours/odd hours" split even though I did suggest it because it'll put too much on the nurses. So they will send a unit clerk who is supposed to be putting in the admissions, calling the other doctors, entering orders, answering phones, tearing down charts, go round to 16+ rooms to help the patient to the bathroom and so on. Even with a tech, the tech is not that familiar with the patients as they will help sometimes but usually they are stocking or taking patients up to the floor. Another thing that is slightly frustrating is that hourly rounding is good for the floor. It is excellent for the floor. However, when it is the ER, not so much. A pct can take notes on which patient needs a commode, bedpan, can ambulate. With the ER, some patients can be discharged so quickly. When the patient wants an update, you still have to go tell the nurse to go give them an update as the patient may be waiting for test results, imaging, lab work, ekg, etc. You still have to track down the nurse and find out who is NPO. Granted, 90% of the patients are NPO till close to discharge. The theory is good, but I don't know if it is practical to apply it to the ER. Also, I do not know if they will take my suggestion of RNs and ancillary staff switching odds/evens into account. I don't think so. Honestly, it would probably help if we had a PCT that could be dedicated to hourly rounding from 11 am to 11 pm. By the time the pct came back around, it would be time to start again most nights.

Green [TABLE=width: 550] [TR] [TD] [/TD] [TD=colspan: 2]Address | Address | Phone | Email [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD=colspan: 3] Objective [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD=colspan: 3]To be hired into the nurse residency program where I will be able to make a difference in the patient's lives on a day to day basis. [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD=colspan: 3]Certifications [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD=colspan: 3]- AHA CPR for HCP, 8/2015 - AHA ACLS, 8/2015 - AHA PALS 3/2014 - AHA BLS Instructor 3/2014 - Basic ITLS - 4/2014 - Paramedic Ohio: 6/2014, MI 8/2015 [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD=colspan: 3] Employment History [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD=colspan: 2]Unit Clerk/Paramedic/Phlebotomist [/TD] [TD]11/1/2012-Current [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD=colspan: 3]Name of employer - Entering orders - Answering phones - Triaging - Starting IVs and drawing blood - EKGs - Stocking - Patient transport [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD=colspan: 2] Patient Care Tech/Unit Clerk [/TD] [TD]5/1/2012-10/30/2012 [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD=colspan: 3]Name of employer - Stocking - Patient transport - Vital signs - Drawing blood - Answering phones - Entering orders [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD=colspan: 2]EMT-Basic [/TD] [TD]7/1/2011-5/1/2011 [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD=colspan: 3]Name - Safe driving - Providing excellent care up to the level of a EMT - Checking the ambulance daily - Restocking ambulance daily [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD=colspan: 2]General Merchandise Clerk [/TD] [TD]10/1/2009-7/1/2011 [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD=colspan: 3] Education [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD=colspan: 3]- Associated Degree of Nursing, Expected Graduation: Dec. 2013 o College - Paramedic Certification o Tech school - General Education Credits, January 2007 - May 2008 o University - Honors Diploma, May 2008 o High School [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD=colspan: 3]Clinical Experiences [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD=colspan: 3]- hospital, Med Surg o Jan. 2012 - May 2012 - hospital Vascular/Ortho/Oncology Unit o Aug. 2012 - Dec. 2012 - Hospital, Neurology and Palliative Care o Feb. 2013 - May 2013 - Hospital, 8th Floor o April 2013 - May 2013 - Hospital 5th Floor o Aug. 2013 - Sept. 2013 - Hospital, OB o Planned Sept. 2013 - Nov. 2013 - Nursing home o Planned Nov. 2013 - Dec. 2013 - Hospital Preceptorship o September 2013 - Dec. 2013 [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD=colspan: 3]Activities [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD=colspan: 3]- Student Member of ENA - Student Member of AACN - Secretary of College SNA - Volunteer Firefighter/EMT Dec. 2010 - July 2013 The formatting is slightly different. The objective is weak and I will work on changing that. Is there anything else I should include? Anything that I should change in terms of styling? Moving something around? Do people still use objectives? [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE]

I do not want to have anything associating me with a healthcare worker. That is why I never bothered to get lights put on my car, get a firefighter/emt license plate, or get the safe vehicle check off.

Well, I am not entirely sure what it is supposed to do compared what it is being used for. Like if equipment fails, you need to report that. If a person falls, you need to report that. One example that was given to me was that there were issues with the patient not being on telemetry because the nurses never hooked them up but blamed the other department.